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Who should own regionally native Pokemon? (Discussion)

Psytrainer

The Azure Mystic
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Something I've begun doing recently is attempting to pair every major trainer with Pokemon from their original region. However, with the past two generations' smaller roster of Pokemon and larger pool of characters, among other factors, doing this became a greater challenge than anticipated. That's when the question popped into my mind: What characters, as a rule, do we expect to have Pokemon partners that come from the same region as them? Please share your thoughts below, and I'll leave off with what I personally believe should be the case:

  • Rivals
  • Gym Leaders/Trial Captains/Kahunas
  • Elite Four
  • Champions
  • Team Leaders and Admins
  • Important Story Characters
 
Kanto:
Brock: Onix ofc
Misty: Starmie
Lt Surge: Raichu
Erika: Vileplume
Koga: Venamoth
Sabrina: Alakazam
Blaine (Haha funny): Rapidash
Giovanni: Rhydon
Lorelei: Lapras
Bruno: Machamp
Agatha: Gengar
Lance: Dragonite
Blue: Pidgeot

Unova:
Cilan, Cress, Chili: Pansage, Panpour, Pansear
Lenora: Watchog
Burgh: Leavanny
Elisa: Zebstrika
Clay: Excadrill
Skyla: Swanna
Brycen: Cryogonal
Drayden: Haxorus
Cheren: Herdier
Roxie: Whirlipede
Marlon: Wailord
Hugh: Liepard
Iris: Lapras
Caitlyn: Reuniclus
Marshall: Mienshau
Grimsley: Bisharp
Shauntal: Chandelure
N: Zoroark
Ghetsis: Hydreigon
Colress: Magnezone
Bianca: Musharna
 
Is your definition of "regionally native" about Pokemon in the regional dex of Pokémon from the generation the region was introduced in? If it´s the former, my answer is everyone, and if it's the latter, only Unovans, because even with the dex expansion they seem like the kind of people who would prefer their native Pokémon.
 
Is your definition of "regionally native" about Pokemon in the regional dex of Pokémon from the generation the region was introduced in? If it´s the former, my answer is everyone, and if it's the latter, only Unovans, because even with the dex expansion they seem like the kind of people who would prefer their native Pokémon.
It’s the latter. The reason for this post was to figure out, as a rule, which character types should have Pokémon from their debut regions.
 
Okay. As much as I wanted to retcon Bugsy and Korrina's aces into Ledian and Hawlucha, that wouldn't fit well with the many established canons that exist, so it's better to give them the most recognized choices.
 
Okay. As much as I wanted to retcon Bugsy and Korrina's aces into Ledian and Hawlucha, that wouldn't fit well with the many established canons that exist, so it's better to give them the most recognized choices.

Yeah, certain trainers in other regions like Colress and Magnezone and Wally with Gallade make it hard to pick a proper
 
Okay. As much as I wanted to retcon Bugsy and Korrina's aces into Ledian and Hawlucha, that wouldn't fit well with the many established canons that exist, so it's better to give them the most recognized choices.
Well, they both had explanations: Korrina's ace in the Gym battle is Hawlucha, and I personally consider it her ace instead of Lucario, while Bugsy has the excuse that Scyther got an evolution that gen, and they couldn't use Scizor because it would be worse than Whitney's Miltank if you didn't pick Cyndaquil.
 
Well, they both had explanations: Korrina's ace in the Gym battle is Hawlucha, and I personally consider it her ace instead of Lucario, while Bugsy has the excuse that Scyther got an evolution that gen, and they couldn't use Scizor because it would be worse than Miltank if you didn't pick Cyndaquil.

But then you have Morty with Gengar and Falkner with Pidgeotto
 
Yeah, certain trainers in other regions like Colress and Magnezone and Wally with Gallade make it hard to pick a proper
Colress’ ace is Klinklang, though. Also some quick things I want to clarify:

1. If part of the evolutionary line originated from that region, then it counts (e.g., Wally I give a pass since both of Gallade’s pre-evolutions are Hoenn native). I would say the same for pairings like Flint’s Magmortar.

2. Johto characters can technically go for either Kanto or Johto Pokemon since the two regions share one league.

3. When I had initially written my post, I was primarily thinking of characters that don’t strictly have regionally native Pokémon as their signatures. These include most of the Stat trainers, facility heads, and evil team admins.
 
Black 2 and White 2's PWT pretty much answered this for me regarding almost everyone in the first five generations since most of its competitors have a fixed lead Pokémon, and the highest level Pokémon in other games for the notable outliers (basically E4 members) usually filled in the gaps.

Lorelei: Lapras
Bruno: Machamp
Agatha: Gengar
Will: Xatu
Koga: Crobat (fits his ninja character best and compliments his daughter's Venomoth)
Karen: Houndoom
Sidney: Absol
Phoebe: Dusknoir (Mega Sableye was a one-off)
Glacia: Walrein (Mega Glalie was a one-off)
Drake: Salamence
Aaron: Drapion (even if it's not a Bug-type)
Bertha: Rhyperior
Flint: Magmortar
Lucian: Gallade
Shauntal: Chandelure
Grimsley: Bisharp
Caitlyn: Gothitelle (Metagross just... doesn't fit)
Marshal: Conkeldurr

The only characters from the PWT without a set lead are Red and Blue. Red is obviously with Pikachu but I actually prefer Blue with one of the first three Eeveelutions since Red's starter trio are such heavy Yellow references. It feels weird to not give Blue something out of that in other games.
Or maybe give the guy an Umbreon as an additional nod to the Espeon from Red's GSC team that shouldn't have been randomly swapped for a Lapras...
 
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